National Basketball Association

2025 NBA Playoff Picture, Bracket, Standings

Updated Mar. 10, 2025 8:02 a.m. ET

The 2025 NBA Playoffs are still a ways off, but it's never too early to take a look at the playoff picture.

Seeds 7-10 will compete in the NBA Play-in Tournament to advance to the first round of the NBA playoffs. Here's what the playoffs would look like if the season ended today*:

Eastern Conference Seeding

Cleveland Cavaliers (x) (54-10)
Boston Celtics (46-18) 8 GB
New York Knicks (40-23) 13.5 GB
Milwaukee Bucks (36-27) 17.5 GB
Indiana Pacers (35-27) 18 GB
Detroit Pistons (36-29) 18.5 GB
Atlanta Hawks (30-34) 24 GB
Orlando Magic (30-35) 24.5 GB
Miami Heat (29-34) 24.5 GB
Chicago Bulls (26-38) 28 GB

Eastern Conference Bracket

(1) Cavs vs. (8) Winner of play-in
(2) Celtics vs. (7) Winner of play-in
(3) Knicks vs. (6) Pistons
(4) Bucks vs. (5) Pacers

Nick picks the Lakers to win the NBA Championship after they beat the Knicks | First Things First

Western Conference Seeding

Oklahoma City Thunder (53-11)
Los Angeles Lakers (40-22) 12 GB
Denver Nuggets (41-23) 12 GB
Memphis Grizzlies (40-24) 13 GB
Houston Rockets (39-25) 14 GB
Golden State Warriors (36-28) 17 GB
Minnesota Timberwolves (37-29) 17 GB
LA Clippers (35-29) 18 GB
Sacramento Kings (33-30) 19.5 GB
Dallas Mavericks (32-33) 21.5 GB

Western Conference Bracket

(1) Thunder vs. (8) Winner of play-in
(2) Lakers vs. (7) Winner of play-in
(3) Nuggets vs. (6) Warriors
(4) Grizzlies vs. (5) Rockets

NBA Play-In Tournament Bracket

Eastern Conference

(7) Atlanta Hawks vs. (8) Orlando Magic
(9) Miami Heat vs. (10) Chicago Bulls

Western Conference

(7) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (8) LA Clippers
(9) Sacramento Kings vs. (10) Dallas Mavericks

* As of 3/10/2025

(x) Clinched playoffs

How many teams make the NBA playoffs?

Sixteen teams in total make the NBA playoffs, eight teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference. The top six seeds in each conference advance based on the regular season record. The final two seeds in each conference are determined by the NBA Play-In Tournament.